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Arts Correspondent
Local dance outfit Afro Empire Dance Studio has stepped in to teach their craft to orphans and idle young people in a bid to keep them off the drug and crime infested streets.
The 10-member outfit is already working with young people in different high-density suburbs in Harare and orphaned children at Dzikwa Trust in Dzivaresekwa, with hopes to spread to other areas with the approval of government following the Covid-19 guidelines.
Over the past few years, drug abuse has been growing at alarming levels, a development that saw President Mnangagwa speaking out on the issue last week.
The rise of drug abuse is believed to have fuelled crime among young people who will be trying to fund their addiction.
Covid-19 has worsened the situation as young people are forced to spend most of their time idle and out of school to curb the spread of the deadly pandemic.
“We hope to change the world and keep young people away from doing drugs through teaching them dance,” said Afro Empire founder Divvone Musendekwa. “Dance can be a great career path, to some a hobby to keep them occupied and to some an exercise to keep them fit. The long-term goal is to provide the world’s best dancers, choreographers and to open a dance studio that will teach everyone who is passionate and willing to fulfil their dream as dancers.”
Founded in 2015, the group has already toured Saudi Arabia twice for Riyad Shopping Mall festival in 2018 and Jeddah Season in 2019. They failed to travel last year because of Covid-19 restrictions, thus channelling their energy since then to teaching young people.
“We’ve already taught over 100 young people, among them some potential world-class entertainers,” said Musendekwa. “We hope to teach many more thus our constant engagement with willing participants on social media.
“Most of our targeted young people can, however, not access online classes due to high data costs, thus we are lobbying for the government to allow us to operate following strict Covid-19 guidelines.”
The Government through the recently introduced education curriculum has been encouraging young people to also take on arts as a possible career path.
Afro Empire recently landed a sponsorship deal courtesy of United Kingdom based rapper Rhyme Assassin, which has given them some financial relief to operate.
Online Reporter